Noel Gough is Foundation Professor of Outdoor and Environmental Education and Director (Learning, Teaching and International) in the Faculty of Education, La Trobe University, Australia. His current research focuses on the diverse implications of globalization, internationalization and multiculturalism for education, and on refining poststructuralist research methodologies in education, with particular reference to curriculum inquiry, environmental education, and science education.

Response to Dobson and Iftody: A Slacker Darkly? No Interpretation Without Intertextualization

Noel Gough

Abstract

In ‘Consciousness and Complexity in “Waking Life”,’ Teresa Dobson and Tammy Iftody argue persuasively for interpreting Richard Linklater’s film, which deploys innovative animation techniques to portray discussions of theories of consciousness, from a complexivist perspective. They demonstrate how complexity theorizing might inform interpretive practices and recommend the film as a focus for discussion in humanities education. This response concurs with much of their analysis, but suggests that there are limitations to interpretive practices that focus on a single text, and argues for an alternative approach that deliberately foregrounds intertextuality – that is, interpreting any given text in terms of other texts. Examples of intertextual readings that produce multiple and unpredictable interpretations are provided, including interpretations of Waking Life’s intertextual relations with other films by Linklater, and with other visual and literary texts.